Flender

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

Flender is a middle-aged man whose appearance gives him the air of a slick merchant 37.

• Glasses: Black-rimmed 37.
• Face: Described as shoehorn-shaped 37.
• Spirit manifestation: Can sprout wings from his back to fly 164.

Personality

Flender combines an educator’s ideals with a merchant’s concern for money. He readily asks new students for tuition and tries to economize on travel accommodation. His reputation is strong enough that students and teachers become suspicious when he unexpectedly treats them to a meal 86 117 134 135.

His students’ welfare nevertheless takes priority over possessions and personal pride. When the Fire Cloud Rock disappears, his greatest concern is that an intruder might have bypassed Shrek’s defenses and endangered the students. He also readily agrees to move them to a tournament-qualified academy rather than let his attachment to Shrek restrict their futures 112 122.

He is receptive to expertise regardless of age. He treats Chen Feng as a serious scholar, participates in his cultivation experiments, and accepts proposals ranging from the academy’s name to the introduction of dormitory supervisors 132 133 207.

His loyalty to Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong is deeply personal. Although he has long loved Liu Erlong, he refuses to force his feelings on her and would accept her choosing to remain single. He regards both companions as younger siblings whom he wants to protect 126.

History

Founding Shrek Academy

Flender founded Shrek Academy in a village near Suotuo City nearly twenty years before its relocation to Heaven Dou City. By the time he leaves, he considers the academy the work of half his life 94 133.

Despite recruiting capable teachers and exceptional students, Shrek lacks adequate facilities and has never registered in any country. This prevents its students from entering the All-Continent Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament under its name. Zhao Wuji states that, apart from tuition, Flender has never accepted financial support from students’ families 118 125 256.

Flender’s early recruits include Oscar, an orphan he adopted whose Food God Martial Soul awakened with Innate Full Soul Power, and Ma Hongjun, whom he discovered while helping nearby villages awaken their Martial Souls. Among Shrek’s graduates, he particularly values Qin Ming and believes he has the potential to become a Title Douluo 57 126.

Helping Grandmaster and Chen Feng

When Chen Feng’s published research threatens to attract powerful factions, Grandmaster sends Flender to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect with a drawing of Chen Feng’s jade pendant. Flender recognizes it as a family token. His visit brings the drawing to Chen Xin’s attention, after which Chen Xin and Ning Fengzhi accompany him to Nuoding City 37 39.

Flender also helps Grandmaster obtain blood from a Ten Thousand Year Earth Flame Dragon Beast. Zhao Wuji restrains the beast while Flender draws its blood, which Grandmaster subsequently feeds to Luo Sanpao 57 58.

Initially, Flender considers a Dan Huo Crane ring to give Ma Hongjun a fire-stream attack. After discussing Hongjun’s impure flames with Grandmaster and reading Chen Feng’s Foundation Building Method, he accepts the recommendation to seek a Fire Swallowing Crocodile as a Fire Attribute Foundation Ring instead 57.

Reunion of the Golden Iron Triangle

After recognizing both Chen Feng’s emerging Sword Intent and Shrek’s limitations as a place to protect him, Flender agrees with Grandmaster that the students need a better-equipped, tournament-qualified academy. He already knows where Liu Erlong is living and supports relocating to her Blue Tyrant Academy 121 122.

Flender accompanies Grandmaster to meet Liu Erlong after more than ten years apart. He objects to Grandmaster’s plan to end her romantic hopes, fearing the emotional damage it will cause, but comforts her when Grandmaster makes his decision clear 125 126.

Liu Erlong offers them control of Blue Tyrant Academy so the three can run it together. Flender accepts, and she confirms that he will be the new academy’s headmaster. Flender and Grandmaster also discuss Chen Feng as a future successor 127 130.

Establishing Nine-Headed Serpent Academy

At Chen Feng’s suggestion, Flender agrees to name the merged institution Nine-Headed Serpent Academy. The name offers a possible connection to Dugu Bo’s evolved Martial Soul, but Flender also identifies an institutional reason: retaining “Shrek” could make Blue Tyrant’s teachers and students feel that their academy had been swallowed rather than merged 133.

Although leaving Shrek visibly saddens him, he insists on the new name even when Chen Feng offers to withdraw the suggestion. He then leads the teachers and students toward Heaven Dou City, incorporating demanding running exercises into the journey 133.

When Dugu Bo later accepts Chen Feng’s invitation to join the academy, Flender welcomes him enthusiastically and even offers him the headmaster position. Dugu Bo declines management duties and instead serves as an advisor 153 175.

Soul Beast Expeditions

Flender leads the Death Desert expedition to obtain suitable rings for Ma Hongjun and Ning Rongrong. Having learned of Chen Feng’s experimental ring method, the teachers agree to negotiate with suitable Soul Beasts first and resort to hunting only if cooperation fails 158.

During a later Sunset Forest expedition, he permits the Illusion Demon Tree to live in the academy’s rear forest on the condition that it does not harm students. His group subsequently guards it while it prepares for transplantation 194 198.

When a wounded, pregnant Ironclad Earth Dragon enters their camp, Flender shields it from its pursuers. He challenges the Holy Dragon Sect’s intention to cut it open for a feast, then joins Grandmaster and Liu Erlong in their Martial Soul Fusion Skill when the confrontation becomes violent. Afterward, he supports restraint because the students are present 198 199 201.

Tournament and Academy Expansion

During the investigation into injured tournament competitors, Flender urges Grandmaster to hold Tang San’s Pope’s Token, warning that Tang San displaying it could reveal Tang Hao’s whereabouts. He also joins Ning Fengzhi in challenging Salas’s accusations against the academy 233.

After the team’s tournament victory, Flender announces that the students may graduate. When Chen Feng asks about becoming a teaching assistant, Flender instead offers him the deputy headmaster position, provided he presents a plan for the academy’s future 258.

Flender supports establishing a new campus but rejects returning to Shrek’s original site. Beyond its practical shortcomings, he believes doing so would undermine the equality of the merger with Blue Tyrant Academy 258.

He later recognizes the political value of Chen Feng’s argument that the Soul Pact Method fulfills the Angel God’s protective ideals: the argument could divide Spirit Hall rather than leave it uniformly opposed to the method 297.

Abilities & Skills

Flight and Aerial Scouting

Flender uses wings to fly and serves as an aerial scout during Soul Beast expeditions 164 166.

• Retrieves a Wind Slime from beyond a cliff 164.
• Locates a Blazing Arrow Eagle’s nest and its chicks 166.
• Escapes back to the group when the fifty-thousand-year eagle attacks him; the encounter requires the teachers to prepare for battle 166.

Golden Iron Triangle Martial Soul Fusion

Together with Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong, Flender can produce the Golden Sacred Dragon through a three-person Martial Soul Fusion Skill 199.

• Formation: The three stand at the points of a golden triangle, with Grandmaster behind Flender and Liu Erlong 199.
• Activation: Flender initiates the technique with “Sun and moon shine together, golden transformation!” 199.
• Manifestation: Their Spirit Rings gather around Golden Horn, transforming it into a soaring Golden Sacred Dragon 199.
• Compatibility: Chen Feng describes the trio’s fusion compatibility as ninety-nine percent 58.
• Power dependency: Its strength increases with the participants’ cultivation. With Grandmaster at his third ring, it becomes genuinely capable of contending with a Title Douluo 238.

Soul Power Compression

Flender participates directly in Chen Feng’s attempt to make Soul Power denser 132 133.

• Partially converts gaseous Soul Power into mist at level seventy-eight 133.
• Finds the process strenuous despite his high Soul Saint cultivation 133.
• Agrees to continue practicing rather than assume liquefaction must wait for a higher realm 133.

Teaching and Administration

Flender oversees recruitment, practical training, student protection, and academy management 86 112 119 130.

• Leads students to Suotuo City’s Spirit Fighting Arena for practical combat classes 119.
• Uses travel as an opportunity for endurance training 133.
• Explains why Ma Hongjun’s flight skill remains excellent despite losing a race to Bai Chenxiang 168.
• Adopts Chen Feng’s proposal to add dormitory supervisors for more standardized student management 207.

Equipment, Resources & Shop

• Fire Cloud Rock — Kept in Shrek’s kitchen for years and retained as a resource for training students. Flender instructs Ma Hongjun to safeguard it after learning it has been stored in Ning Rongrong’s Storage Soul Tool 112.
• Suotuo City shop — A business Flender owns and also uses for private discussions with Grandmaster 122.
• Crystal Board — A valuable piece displayed in his shop. He lets Tang San take it and cautions him after seeing the Dragon Whisker Needles made from its hair gold 262.
• Soul Guidance Image Recorder — Given to Xiao Wu during the return visit to his shop 262.
• Soul Guidance Music Box — Allowed Chen Feng to take it; its mechanism inspires Chen Feng’s ideas about converting Soul Power into mechanical motion 262.

Relationships

• Yu Xiaogang / Grandmaster — Longtime friend and fellow Golden Iron Triangle member. Flender helps obtain cultivation resources for him and assists with the difficult reunion with Liu Erlong 57 125 126.
• Liu Erlong — Fellow Golden Iron Triangle member and the woman he has long loved. Her feelings are directed toward Grandmaster; no romantic relationship with Flender is established 126.
• Zhao Wuji — Fellow Shrek dean and trusted colleague in protecting students, obtaining resources, and conducting expeditions 57 112 158.
• Oscar — Adopted orphan and exceptionally talented Food System student whom Flender proudly introduces to Grandmaster 57.
• Ma Hongjun — His student, discovered during village Martial Soul awakenings. Flender helps plan his rings and supports his development as a flying phoenix Soul Master 57 166 168.
• Chen Feng — Student, research collaborator, and proposed academy successor. Flender admires both his scholarship and cultivation talent and later offers him the deputy headmaster position 121 127 133 258.
• Tang San — Trusted student who chooses Flender’s assistance over that of less familiar allies when arranging a visit to Tang Hao 178.
• Qin Ming — Former student whom Flender considers a strong prospective Title Douluo 126.
• Dugu Bo — Powerful academy advisor whom Flender hopes will strengthen the institution’s protection and standing 133 153 175.

Notable Quotes

“Protecting students is the duty of us teachers.” 86

“The new name represents a new beginning. The academy formed by the merger of the two is not a continuation of Shrek Academy, but an entirely new academy.” 133

Trivia

• A newspaper account portrays Flender as having rescued a young Chen Feng from a Vampire Bat Spirit Master and later guided his awakening. This belongs to Chen Feng’s fabricated “Night Owl” public biography, not their actual shared history; Flender reads the story with bemusement 86 127.
• After reading about new Soul Master classifications, Flender considers trying the archer role once he reaches level eighty. The supplied chapters do not show him reaching that level or adopting the role 86.